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My grandpa Thomas LaFramboise, Chief chemist at Ford auto Glass division, sometime in the 60s.
Slept in a bar booth in Detroit from 6-18 years old, ran a paper route to eat and saved what he could, paid for his own way through UofDetroit, served in the army, made all kinds of in his career, and made a family of 4, now we’re 12 - he passed last year.
Dude was too based, my whole family is downstream from this guy being hardcore. Him and the people from that generation built the whole country - thanks grandpa.
Slept in a bar booth in Detroit from 6-18 years old, ran a paper route to eat and saved what he could, paid for his own way through UofDetroit, served in the army, made all kinds of in his career, and made a family of 4, now we’re 12 - he passed last year.
Dude was too based, my whole family is downstream from this guy being hardcore. Him and the people from that generation built the whole country - thanks grandpa.
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Every effector company needs a test range - Army’s done a great job of opening ranges but they’re still not too accessible and there aren’t enough
Benefit: test twice a week not twice a year
Benefit: test twice a week not twice a year
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Please give us a new lensing manufacturer - Zeiss but in Toledo, OH would be a good start
The 2026 American Dynamism 50 is here: our annual list of 50 companies, from within the a16z portfolio and beyond, building for America's future.
This year's theme is Production is Deterrence. "America's ability to prevent conflict depends on what it can build, how fast it can t can keep going."
A new generation of defense companies is moving from prototypes to full-scale production, and the industrial base has to keep pace. This year's list is organized around three pillars:
1. Systems: the drones, ships, missiles, aircraft, and spacecraft that deter conflict.
2. Factories: the plants, tools, and software that build them.
3. Inputs: the materials and power they're made of and run on.
Get all three right, and the impact reaches well beyond defense, to skilled jobs, revitalized communities, and the supply chains behind energy, housing, and everyday goods.
Meet all 50: a16z.news/p/ad-50-2026-p…
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Good idea @DavidZagaynov there might be something to this
BREAKING: YC has backed an autonomous air cargo startup aiming to unlock America's 5,000+ public-use airports for cargo delivery across rural America and contested military logistics.
Aviern is developing unmanned cargo aircraft targeting 1,000 pounds of payload over 1,000 miles ight.
The startup has already flown a scaled prototype.
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The consolidation begins
Salesforce buys Rune Technologies for new defense portfolio axios.com/pro/enterprise…
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Everyone that starts a reindustrialize-coded company realizes when they go to build their first products that we're extremely weak in our subcomponents and base supply. Many startups are out there working on this but if you're operating as an OEM or System-level supplier you start to get blocked on development pretty quickly.
Everyone's got a story, here's ours:
We make laser weapon systems, our lasers are pulled from the industrial cutting/welding/annealing market. Laser producers in the west are getting crushed from Chinese mass imports. NLight went down earlier this year and we know other producers in the west are increasingly struggling.
Photonics companies aren't looking to fight the fight, they're moving into high power fiber with narrow line widths to sell to the government for $100k/kw, market rate on industrial fiber lasers are more like $10k/kw.
This is even if they stay in the game, big opportunity now to be in interconnects and comms fiber for AI data centers
Our systems at @aureliuslasers are focused on industrial architectures, interchangeable with welding and cutting lasers
To this effect we've begun vertical integration into laser source supply, where large companies are moving out we're headed forthrightly in, but the problem continues even as you go up the supply chain. GaAs diodes, the most expensive part in a fiber laser, are $10+ / Watt in the west, in China they can be $0.50 / Watt.
Fiber draw towers still seem competitive
There are like 2 gratings companies in the US
The only people that can splice specialized fiber well at scale are over 60 years old
There's a huge gap in getting back to where we need to be, and it's great we're issuing orders to support this Reindustrialization as we have a supply and skill issue as a nation that I hope we continue to commit to fixing.
That being said, many of my Defense/industrial startup cohort will say similar things - we look to our left and right and there still aren't enough of us.
Everyone's got a story, here's ours:
We make laser weapon systems, our lasers are pulled from the industrial cutting/welding/annealing market. Laser producers in the west are getting crushed from Chinese mass imports. NLight went down earlier this year and we know other producers in the west are increasingly struggling.
Photonics companies aren't looking to fight the fight, they're moving into high power fiber with narrow line widths to sell to the government for $100k/kw, market rate on industrial fiber lasers are more like $10k/kw.
This is even if they stay in the game, big opportunity now to be in interconnects and comms fiber for AI data centers
Our systems at @aureliuslasers are focused on industrial architectures, interchangeable with welding and cutting lasers
To this effect we've begun vertical integration into laser source supply, where large companies are moving out we're headed forthrightly in, but the problem continues even as you go up the supply chain. GaAs diodes, the most expensive part in a fiber laser, are $10+ / Watt in the west, in China they can be $0.50 / Watt.
Fiber draw towers still seem competitive
There are like 2 gratings companies in the US
The only people that can splice specialized fiber well at scale are over 60 years old
There's a huge gap in getting back to where we need to be, and it's great we're issuing orders to support this Reindustrialization as we have a supply and skill issue as a nation that I hope we continue to commit to fixing.
That being said, many of my Defense/industrial startup cohort will say similar things - we look to our left and right and there still aren't enough of us.
the white house just declared our dependence on imported robots and industrial machinery a national security threat.
no new tariffs yet. trade negotiations come first.
the bigger point: rebuilding american industry means building the machines that make everything else.
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Hiring: Founding Creative / Videographer
Competitive starting comp + equity — SF + Detroit (travel both). Report directly to the CEO at @aureliuslasers
You're a fit if you have:
- Shipped real YouTube (channel, series, or long-form product/factory films you owned end-to-end).
- it — reel + links only. No resumes.
- Gone viral or broken through on X / YouTube with hardware, industrial, auto, aerospace, or defense-adjacent work.
- Set the look for something, then gotten behind the camera and cut it yourself.
- Talked shop with at least one founder shipping real product (not just decks).
- Native English speaker.
Aurelius Systems builds autonomous directed energy — lasers that stop drones at the speed of light, for the cost of electricity. Archimedes is autonomous, edge-deployed, and field-repairable. We're a small team in San Francisco and Detroit reindustrializing what defense forgot how to build.
The US and our allies are unable to effectively destroy drones at scale, we believe that every day we're delayed more people die, or infrastructure is destroyed to these drones.
The job is one seat: creative ideator and videographer. You'll set the visual and narrative system, then shoot, edit, and ship it. Shop floors, field tests, founder cuts for X, longer YouTube / launch films
We are a very small and tight knit team, traveling the country shooting down drones with lasers. It's demanding and if you love making hard things look as cool as they are, it's a dream.
DM me a reel + YouTube + 2 links if you are a fit
(or contact@aureliussystems.us — portfolio only, not interested in a resume, just what you've made).
Competitive starting comp + equity — SF + Detroit (travel both). Report directly to the CEO at @aureliuslasers
You're a fit if you have:
- Shipped real YouTube (channel, series, or long-form product/factory films you owned end-to-end).
- it — reel + links only. No resumes.
- Gone viral or broken through on X / YouTube with hardware, industrial, auto, aerospace, or defense-adjacent work.
- Set the look for something, then gotten behind the camera and cut it yourself.
- Talked shop with at least one founder shipping real product (not just decks).
- Native English speaker.
Aurelius Systems builds autonomous directed energy — lasers that stop drones at the speed of light, for the cost of electricity. Archimedes is autonomous, edge-deployed, and field-repairable. We're a small team in San Francisco and Detroit reindustrializing what defense forgot how to build.
The US and our allies are unable to effectively destroy drones at scale, we believe that every day we're delayed more people die, or infrastructure is destroyed to these drones.
The job is one seat: creative ideator and videographer. You'll set the visual and narrative system, then shoot, edit, and ship it. Shop floors, field tests, founder cuts for X, longer YouTube / launch films
We are a very small and tight knit team, traveling the country shooting down drones with lasers. It's demanding and if you love making hard things look as cool as they are, it's a dream.
DM me a reel + YouTube + 2 links if you are a fit
(or contact@aureliussystems.us — portfolio only, not interested in a resume, just what you've made).
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Is there a financing structure out there somewhere halfway between venture and PE to get younger operators in here to take over and refi the business?
Familiar with search funds but Stanford mba grads don’t deserve such a glorious opportunity
Familiar with search funds but Stanford mba grads don’t deserve such a glorious opportunity
there’s a 59-year-old, family-owned Michigan machine shop that’s about to go under. 156 jobs, 152k sq ft of turning, broaching, heat treat, grinding and electroplating capacity
they lost a big contract after investing in a new line
someone should buy it. I suspect nobody will:
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Chased this guy down using a robot dog to walk his real dog. I asked him what he did for work and he says it’s a secret but that they’re also working on a humanoid
Love SF
Love SF
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Michael LaFramboise 🇺🇸 retweeted
Wrapping up another week at Aurelius Systems.
Good people. Hard problems. Progress every day.
Good people. Hard problems. Progress every day.
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Michael LaFramboise 🇺🇸 retweeted
last thing a drone sees before getting its shit blown smoove off by @aureliuslasers
Blessing God’s green earth before a shoot, gj team @HerefortheTech3
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Blessing God’s green earth before a shoot, gj team @HerefortheTech3
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Michael LaFramboise 🇺🇸 retweeted
What happens when the vehicle moving supplies through a contested environment can also defend itself?
Archimedes, integrated with American Rheinmetall's Ox unmanned ground vehicle, combines autonomous logistics with autonomous directed-energy defense.
Interesting Engineering took a closer look at how the integration could help protect logistic missions from low-cost drone threats while reducing the cost and logistical burden of traditional counter-UAS systems.
Read more: interestingengineering.com/military/direc…
Archimedes, integrated with American Rheinmetall's Ox unmanned ground vehicle, combines autonomous logistics with autonomous directed-energy defense.
Interesting Engineering took a closer look at how the integration could help protect logistic missions from low-cost drone threats while reducing the cost and logistical burden of traditional counter-UAS systems.
Read more: interestingengineering.com/military/direc…
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Michael LaFramboise 🇺🇸 retweeted
The haters said we’d never finish Twilight Imperium in less than 6 hours
And they were correct. Honestly great call from the haters
And they were correct. Honestly great call from the haters
I’m gonna host another Twilight’s Imperium night in SF, hopefully next week, and have a few open spots!
Not for the faint of heart, but a truly incredible game. Happy to teach.
Anyone interested?
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Regardless of where you land on the Elizabeth Holmes debate, I'm just gonna say this - In the scene where they're in the optics lab there is a HUGE stack of Thorlabs lab snacks boxes in the background
Either it's real or the commitment to the bit is so on point I kind if respect it
This is how I image the rest of the theatre felt as well but for other reasons
Either it's real or the commitment to the bit is so on point I kind if respect it
This is how I image the rest of the theatre felt as well but for other reasons
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So much equipment and space for increased sour straw packaging and distribution, engineering teeth around the country will be gummed up for months!
Okay it’s happening:
- Added 160k square feet in Reno for our automated high volume lines and parts up to 5’x10’. Operational now.
- Added 170k square feet in Pittston PA for 1-day shipping (or faster) to the Northeast US. Landing machines and growing the team now.
- Southeast US is next (flying out next week to negotiate a lease). 3 more leases in 3 more states to sign after that. Expect massive lead time reductions across our factory network.
- Finalizing our first acquisition and working on the second and third. These are services you’ve been asking for. More coming. We’ll be able to say yes to more of your BOM.
- Welding is ramping nicely. More assembly support soon.
- More materials and capabilities for CNC machining in development now, including much smarter pricing. Increased capacity will also help us cut lead time drastically.
- Added 450 people so far this year. Hopefully double that in 2027.
- Candy and merch budgets have been tripled.
…And we’re just getting started. That’s a big part of why we raised again: to build more, ship faster, and make manufacturing easier and more accessible. I’m doing my best for ya. I love you guys.
Big thanks to @willreed at @sparkcapital , @caitlinbolnick1 at @CRV, @marksugarman at MHS, @andrew__reed at @sequoia and @matthuang at @paradigm for supporting our Series B (and the extra rocket fuel)
LFG!!!!! 🇺🇸
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